I despise the pissing contest arising from most conversations about the success or otherwise of a particular console, though it's probably fair to say that I dislike most pissing contests in general, particularly the literal ones. So, I admit I harbor some concern that the following article might inspire such shenanigans, and having too frequently suffered through the morass of console flame wars, I reasonably hesitate to glance at Pandora's Box much less touch it. So, when I say this may be the year of the PS3, please understand that I am not depreciating the value of your 360 or Wii in any meaningful or statistically relevant way.

That said, for all its clumsy fumblings over the past year, like a high-school sophomore pawing helplessly at a triple-clasped bra, Sony may have finally positioned their obsidian monolith of a system to join in the money-orgy that is the current console generation. Empirically accurate or otherwise, Sony is perceived to have squandered their substantial PlayStation brand with this generation's exorbitant prices, poor management and a notable lack of games. The question of just a few years ago – wondering not whether the PS3 would dominate this generation but by how much – seems positively naïve in light of the PS3's rocky start, so it's an interesting confluence of events that has given the once mighty PlayStation brand a shot back to greatness.

Those who don't own a PS3 now, may be sorely tempted before the year is out, and those who do like myself but rarely play it, may find themselves dusting off that dormant wedge and enjoying a console whose time has finally come to shine.

The argument that Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360 are enjoying prosperity and general mirthfulness is not really an argument that needs to be made if one believes in common sense; which I do. Sony's PS3, on the other hand, came into this generation with big promises and big expectations, but was met with a tepid launch response and the rather quick revelation that six or seven hundred dollars for a gaming console was ridiculous regardless of how many electronic orifices the machine offered. A few price drops and redesigns later, the system still struggles with a relatively small library and the perception that it is the John Edwards of video game consoles.

So, why this year as the big Sony comeback? The reasons are five-fold:

1) Blu-Ray: This is the easiest answer to wrap the noodle around, though not necessarily the strongest. Whether the PS3 played a meaningful part in the victory of Blu-Ray over HD/DVD is an argument for PR professionals and press releases, but as high-definition televisions become increasingly affordable there's no question that the PS3 can take advantage of its Blu-Ray components. Interestingly this feature which had been like an anchor dragging the ocean floor for the first two years of the PS3's life may become the engine which powers demand for the system for the remainder of the generation. Sony's resolute stubbornness was a gamble that may be about to pay-off.

In fact, the PS3 may be precisely how Sony plans to profit from the format it helped create. Despite the popular assumption that Sony may now wear a money-hat of its choosing, the company must split royalties with the rest of the Blu-Ray association. Winning a format war is only the beginning; just ask Victor Co., the winner of the VHS vs. Betamax war. The PlayStation 3 is one of the more affordable Blu-Ray players on the market, and with the format now the high-definition standard that could be a substantial advantage.

2) Microsoft: I'm personally on my third Xbox 360, and just the other day was teased with a red ring of death, which disappeared with a frantic restart, but reminded me what a fickle little temptress that pale concave machine can be. Despite unloading a billion dollars to reverse course from "there's no problem with the 360" to "there's no problem with the 360, but we'll spend a billion dollars just in case" Microsoft's image has been tarnished by the unreliable machine.

The PlayStation 3's reliability, on the other hand, has been rock solid. And this with a far more complicated system, which would seem ripe for failures galore. With the price of the PS3 and its sturdy dependability, not to mention that it doesn't sound like a wind tunnel when you fire it up, the perception for consumers is that Sony's machine is simply better made with quality components. All else being equal, I'd be far more likely to buy a game on the PS3 than the 360 if only for the peace of mind that the next time I turn the machine on it will obey.

3) PlayStation Home: Of course, one of the reasons I keep buying 360 games is because all things haven't been equal. Xbox Live and its seamless integration into the 360 experience consistently divert my gaming gaze toward that unreliable hunk of white; this occasionally functional machine which holds my substantial friends list and which makes connecting with them easy like Sunday morning. A unique, compelling and unifying online portal is exactly the sort of thing that could start to shift the balance of power.

Now whether Sony's Home will be any of those things is a point of some contention. I'm already on record as being concerned that Home might prove to be nothing more than an environment to suffer the socially dysfunctional while looking at advertisements in a digital space. But, I also recognize that Home could also be the kind of virtual environment, meeting place and community building software that would give Sony a much needed strategic online application to compete with Microsoft's considerable Xbox Live. Making it easier and even more fun to connect with friends could be a decisive move on Sony's part, and considering that Nintendo's online strategy is as insubstantial as a daydream, a strong launch for Home could be the tremor that becomes a tidal wave.

4) Games: Halo 3, Mass Effect, Forza 2 and Bioshock were among the massive properties that propelled the 360 to a huge advantage in 2007, while Sony was only able to field some critically well received but otherwise second tier franchises like Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted. But, aside from Gears of War 2 for the 360 and Smash Brothers and Mario Kart on the Wii the competition isn't looking to field the kind of team it did in 07. Sony, on the other hand, is finally putting together a library worth paying some attention and the potential releases from franchises like Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Resistance, and Final Fantasy in the coming year stand to move significant console numbers.

These are the names that put the Playstation 2 into its dominant role last generation, and the number of popular gaming franchises that Sony has access to cannot be easily dismissed. That the system has done as well as it has despite not launching with key franchises could be an indicator that the brightest days for the PS3 are yet to come.

5) The Executive Shuffle: With the departure of Ken Kutaragi last spring and now Phil Harrison a lot of the names most associated with the less-than-stellar launch of the PlayStation 3 have been put to pasture, making way for a new management team. Whether responsibility for the initial troubles of the machine belongs in their well manicured hands or not is not exactly the point, but that as champions for the brand and leaders of men, some unfortunate disparities between their words and reality undermine their ability move PlayStation forward. Not only does new blood in the upper-tier of management at Sony create something like a tabula rasa, but also invites strategies that aren't burdened with the weight of past decisions.

For gamers who need to be swayed from a firm impression of the PS3, hearing the talking points from a new face can be a meaningful difference.

The enumerated specifics of Sony's worldwide install base and its relative merits to other consoles is a subject that can bore me into catatonia, and in the end I'm not terribly interested in the minutia of NPD numbers and its relative analysis for the financial gravity it may hold. Whether the PlayStation 3 ultimately overtakes Microsoft in this battle for what seems like second place isn't what interests me, but rather that the industry is robust enough to allow for the correcting of a botched launch.

In the final analysis, what's of interest here is not the individual specifics of this list but the confluence of potential they offer as a sum of parts. Sony enters 2008 in a rare position to take advantage of its games library, an online strategy, a weaker showing by its competition and new blood in its management all at once. The defeat of HD/DVD couldn't have come at a more opportune moment, adding to the potential momentum that Sony is looking to harness like a quivering and compressed spring.